Subscribe to NY Times, Get $100 off a Netbook

Newspapers are trying just about anything to attract paying subscribers these days. The New York Times is partnering with Samsung to offer a $100 discount off the Samsung Go netbook to subscribers to the paper’s digital edition. The Times Reader will set you back $179.40 per year.

The Samsung Go pre-installed with the Times Reader and is available exclusively through J&R for $279.99 after the $100 discount.

New rules allow newspapers to count digital subscribers amongst their audited paid subscriber count. This official count is important because this is how advertising rates are set. We expect to see more efforts to push digital editions in the near future.

I think it’d be much more interesting if an eReader like the Amazon Kindle or nook were involved. What do you think about this scheme?